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FA-23 Thunderbird
} |line= |model= |class=Atmospheric Strike Fighter |length=20 meters |width=19.5 meters |height=4.9 meters |mass= |max accel= |max speed space= |max speed air=Mach 2 |engine= |slipspace drive= |slipspace speed= |poweroutput= |power= |shield gen=Cockpit Shielding |hull= |sensor= |target= |navigation= |avionics= |countermeasures= |armament= |complement= |crew=Pilot, Co-Pilot |skeleton= |passengers= |capacity= |consumables= |othersystems= |firstuse=2510 |role=Ground Attack, Electronic Warfare, Combat Air Patrol |era= |affiliation= }} The Ushuaia Armory FA-23 Thunder Falcon, universally nicknamed Thunderbird, is an atmospheric multi-role strike fighter intended for all-weather conditions and flown primarily by elements of the . Intended primarily for sustained battlespace presence, the FA-23 was advertised for its ground attack, electronic warfare, and air patrol capabilities. Built under contract by with the in mind, the FA-23 entered service with the UNSC first in 2510 and became popular with colonial militias and military units. While adequate for fighting rebels and low-intensity conflicts, the beginning of the presented unforeseen challenges for the FA-23 and its derivatives. The new threat and its emphasis on numeric-superiority in combat were a terrible match for the fighter due to its intended mission role. Still, the FA-23 continues to serve in limited numbers following the Covenant War as a reliable patrol and ground attack aircraft. It remains the principal flight-training platform for the Patuxent River Academy of Military Science. __TOC__ 'Design' 'Flight Functions' Developed as an atmospheric combat platform, the FA-23 is at home in the skies over colonial worlds and is not intended for combat in micro-gravity or a vacuum environment. However, with the versatile design philosophy of the in the twenty-sixth century, most thruster-based aircraft, if not all, are capable of operating in a vacuum environment with a lack of air. The FA-23 is no different designed with a pair of three-dimensional vectoring hybrid engines that combine fusion ramjet-type rockets with high-speed, air-breathing hyperfans optimized for atmospheric flight. The propulsion design is familiar, sharing the same basic functions and qualities as other widely-serving UNSC aircraft such as the . The fans and rockets can be scaled to meet the specific speed and power requirements in specific scenarios, all controlled from the aircraft computer. To change speeds, the FA-23 scales the size of the nuclear fire in its . To reach the aircraft's top speed of Mach 2, past the sound barrier, hydrogen fuel has to be poured into the aircraft's afterburners. These hybrid thrusters are constructed with a traditional air duct system operating at extremely fast speeds, propelling itself forward by pressing air through the ducts using said hyperfans. When the aircraft approaches even higher altitudes or breaks out of the atmosphere, it switches its non-duct system. This is where the FA-23's fusion ramjet engines come into effect, opening up completely and where the power for the fans is cut off. Two tanks of hydrogen mass propellant serve as the main fuel source for the aircraft while its fusion drive doubles as an electrical powerplant for its onboard electronics. Regarding fuel, the measure of the FA-23's operating time and distance varies greatly between scenarios, however, the most-notable measure would be the extremity of breaking atmosphere. Typically, the fuel economy of the FA-23 allows it to make, on average, two atmospheric breaches and two atmospheric reentries. Along with the vectoring rocket-jet hybrid engine, the FA-23 also includes eight micro-thrusters on the underbelly to allow the FA-23 to function in a limited hover. Due to the placement, however, these thrusters can only assist in vacuum or upper atmosphere to a small degree due to the underbelly placement. 'Structure' The FA-23 features three major flight control surface groups: the main forward-swept wing sections, the secondary roof-placement canards, and the rear-most vertical stabilizers. Similar to other UNSC aircraft, the FA-23 features an unconventional flight profile, most notably its forward-swept wings with large horizontal stabilization flaps. While decreasing the FA-23's overall stability in flight, this forward-swept design gives the aircraft greater maneuverability under greater stresses, particularly with a steeper climb rate. Because of this, the FA-23 has one of the best-moderated high alpha angles of attack found in any UNSC combat aircraft, minimizing the probability of aircraft stalling at critical angles of attack. The secondary roof-placement canards behave similarly to rear canards on traditional flight profiles, tilting to support horizontal stabilization, however, the forward-swept wings still do most of the work. With these dual flight surface systems, the aircraft is better equipped for dives and climbs than other atmospheric craft and helps decrease the fuel strain of the FA-23 during its higher-stress turns. The rear vertical stabilizers are a set of four fins: two above, and two below. They extend off two wide-placed struts at the tail end of the aircraft, wrapping around the sides of the twin vectoring thrusters. The vertical stabilizers with the wider frame of four codependent control surfaces provide the FA-23 with a much quicker left-right turning speed. Overall, the aircraft's main body s a distinct block body design formed from a number of geometric shapes and surfaces, prioritizing combat functionality and survivability over stealth and turning speed. Even though agile and quick for its form, the FA-23 is not an aerodynamically-advantageous design and would likely struggle to keep up with more traditionally-designed fighter aircraft at combat speeds. By sacrificing aerodynamic designs, the FA-23 has fewer radar-reducing surfaces, revealing a larger radar cross-section than more stealth-oriented aircraft. Because of the circumstantial tradeoff radar-absorbent paint was included in the FA-23's design to make up for its lack of incorporated stealth technology. The airframe as well is much bigger and bulkier than comparable strike fighter aircraft. The frame is much thicker than a traditional fighter-type aircraft or spacecraft, allowing for somewhat thicker and increased storage capabilities. Designed with a capacity for atmospheric reentry, the flight surface beneath the belly of the aircraft is designed as a heat shield, intending to mitigate the heat coming off atmospheric friction. The FA-23 is an internalized airframe, with a large fuselage for containing an extra fuel tank and any number of viable weapon systems. The aircraft's outer surface only allows four mountable hardpoints for external weapons. Two on the forward-swept wings and two on the rear struts next to the vertical stabilizers. The two on the forward-swept wings can mount any traditional weapon complements, usually contained in aerodynamic housing containers. The rear hardpoints do not allow for much customization due to the weight balance and can only carry a small variety of missile systems. Generally, weapons are contained inside the aircraft to prevent damage by potential flight hazards until the weapons are ready for use. Due to engineering preferences, the FA-23 airframe shares a lot of design similarities to other UNSC aircraft and spacecraft. These include an angular-shaped cockpit and a bulky, low-polygon-count airframe. At as few as 600 polygons, the FA-23 is a simplistic aircraft despite its complicated-looking physical appearance. Other notable features include spinal-mounted triangular air intake ramps with fold-down covers and a spinal-mounted forward air brake just behind the canopy. 'Limitations' Alongside the lack of stealth features and the bulky airframe, the FA-23's design suffers from a number of flaws that are not only present there but on many UNSC aircraft as well. The forward-dipping, angular cockpit canopy of the FA-23 is the most prominent feature to present disadvantages of design. While well-placed for alignment with the FA-23's missiles and machine guns so that the pilots can see their ground targets, this design limits the pilots' ability to look in a 360-degree of motion, creating a large blind spot to their rear and leaving visibility to a lower 240-degree field of vision. This is present on other UNSC aircraft as well but is made up with the use of an advanced sensor suite and multiple wing-tip cameras. The extreme angles and thin flight surfaces present the FA-23 with a higher weight-to-wing area ratio that significantly decreases its potential maneuverability. At the same time, the aircraft's engine provides a significant thrust-to-weight ratio that limits the aircraft's potential maneuverability at higher airspeed. With these two major factors working against the FA-23, lifting body mechanisms were added to compensate for the aircraft's native-lackluster potentiality for maneuvering. The additions made encourage excellent maneuverability for the FA-23, however, turns at higher speeds remain simply impossible and would likely tear the aircraft to pieces. The FA-23 struggles in the air superiority department and must instead rely on its technology and support elements to compensate, particularly drones, beyond-visual-range missile engagements, and allied aircraft dedicated to air superiority. The FA-23 is evidently a poor dogfighter but excels in its role as a patrol and ground-attack aircraft. The aircraft's primary mission capability, ground attack, also presents a limitation of weapon complement; many UNSC aircraft filled the same role during the period due to the mission necessity and would become an issue leading into the Covenant War. While bulky enough to carry enough weapons for a close air support mission for hours on end, the aircraft is not as big or bulked up as all-purpose space fighters like the family. Against a numeric-superior enemy like the Covenant, the FA-23 lacks the maneuverability to keep up with the smaller and agile main dogfighter of the Covenant military, the . With so many in a battlespace and not enough weapons or the maneuverability to keep up, the FA-23 was often shot down by the faster and more agile Banshees. This inadequacy would come to define the FA-23's role in the Human-Covenant War, too slow to dodge the Covenant and too weak to take on a numerically-superior enemy, the aircraft would be relegated to reconnaissance and combat support missions rather than frontline duty. For the FA-23 to be a viable combat platform, the had to own the skies in a battlespace and that occurrence was far and few between, limiting the FA-23's debut against its Covenant adversaries. 'Technologies' Constructed with a goal of price efficiency, the FA-23 was not developed with cutting-edge technology involved, instead, the aircraft was developed with proven techniques and systems to cut back on an unnecessary trial and error period. Structurally, the FA-23 is not a new concept and much that makes the aircraft unique exists under the hood, rather the design itself. To counteract the limitations of visibility, standardized flight helmets used by the UNSC Armed Forces can link to a series of sixteen onboard cameras and eight sensors that provide real-time imagery to the FA-23's combat pilot in all light conditions along with sensory detection for Infrared, X-ray, LIDAR, and RADAR. All this combat information is integrated directly into the aircraft computer and directed to the pilot's in a manageable manner. When working together, these surveillance systems allow the pilot to seemingly develop a see-through vision with the HUD appearing to almost see directly through the aircraft itself and in every conceivable direction making up for the aircraft's physical blindspot and providing unparalleled situational awareness well-oriented for a fast-attack aircraft. This combination of sensor arrays first made appearances on other UNSC aircraft and starships before being miniaturized for the FA-23 and then miniaturized again in the post-Covenant War era for recent MJOLNIR power armor developments, in particular, the platform. A variation on the ARGUS systems is being integrated into existing FA-23 fleets across the UNSC following mission successes with Spartan personnel, provided by the Watershed Division. Other advanced technologies integrated into the FA-23 include limited around the aircraft's hardened canopy to protect the aircraft pilots against both kinetic and plasma-based weaponry that proved such a nuisance for pilots during the Human-Covenant War as seen with multiple accounts of pilots being melted in their cockpits during engagements with Covenant aircraft and space fighters. While not as complete and protective as the shielding found on the early next-generation space fighter, the or the next-generation , the FA-23's partial shields provide an extra layer of protection to its aircrew and a second or more extra chance to escape via ejection seats if it comes to it. Reverse-engineered from Covenant energy shield technology, the FA-23's cockpit shields have an equivocal shield strength to that of a heavy-combat-type . Category:UNSC Aircraft Category:Aircraft Category:UNSC